On 17 November 1970, the Soviet Luna 17 spacecraft landed the first roving remote-controlled robot on the moon. Known as Lunokhod 1, it weighed just under 2,000 pounds and was designed to operate for 90 days while guided by a five-person team on planet Earth at the Deep Space Center near Moscow, USSR.

Lunokhod 1 actually toured the lunar Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) for 11 months in one of the greatest successes of the Soviet lunar exploration program.